Wholesale Berlioz – Fantastic Symphony – André Cluytens – French National Radio Broadcasting Orchestra – Columbia

30 cm disc, 33 rpm mono, issued by Columbia, Plaisir Musical collection, Œuvres Orchestrales series (ref. FCX 30094). Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, conducted by André Cluytens. High Fidelity. Made in France. Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14, by Hector Berlioz. Five movements. Rêveries et Passions. A Ball. Scene in the Fields. March to the Scaffold. Dream of a Witches' Sabbath. André Cluytens (1905–1967) is the definitive French conductor for the French Romantic repertoire. Born in Antwerp, naturalized French, he conducted the Paris Opera, the Orchestra of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, and became the first French conductor to lead at Bayreuth. His recording of the Symphonie fantastique with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française is a historic reference, one of the first major high-fidelity recordings of this work in France. He captures Berlioz’s orchestral color with an authenticity and vitality that few later interpretations have equaled. The sleeve is an object of rare sobriety and elegance. Printed cardboard imitating canvas, gray-beige tone, cream central label with understated typography. Back entirely plain, without text or image. An object that says everything by what it does not show. Typical of Columbia’s great Plaisir Musical editions of the 1950s, intended for discerning amateurs. Record and sleeve well preserved for their age.